Resident Evil: End of the line
by graytreason
Summary: The sequel to Resident Evil Veronica: The search for Steve With them all reunited Claire, Steve, Billy and Rebecca are sent to an abandoned nuclear facility to finally finish Umbrella once and for all. Unbeknownst to them only 3 will make make it out alive.
1. End of the Line

**Welcome one welcome all to the sequel of Resident Evil: The search for Steve. The story begins just before the previous finished. **

* * *

Billy woke in a haze to just be able to see a pair of eyes looking back to him in the dim moonlight shining through the holes in the curtains. He pulled the person closer, holding her gently in his arms, allowing his body heat to mix with hers as the harsh cold of the night attacked his bare skin. Her head comfortably placed on his chest listening to his heartbeat as a hand gently held his side.  
"Can't sleep?" Rebecca shook her head.  
Could he blame her? It was the same reason he kept waking up at intervals, the thought of not knowing what you're going up against as soon as you approach and enter that building. The sudden jump he got from the infected in the Arklay labs, slow and clumsy, to the fast and unknown in Understock. Every one nearly lost their lives, but not as much as one person in particular. In the Understock mansion basement seeing Rebecca laying unconscious on the cold stone ground in her own blood, lying dead on the office desk, even seeing her suspended in the air by her neck. All a sight that would never leave his mind. Those images haunted him, the days after they escaped he always woke in a panic to see if she was beside him. There she would always be, sleeping soundly or awake to comfort him..to comfort each other from the horrors of what their minds constantly remind them. Billy kissed the top of her head as they laid in silence, just holding each other was a massive comfort. The days since Understock their relationship grew stronger and stronger, never wanting to leave each other's side. Barry even joked they were like a couple of lovestruck teenagers. It was a very awkward moment when David chucked him a pack of rubbers, that man clearly had a crush on Rebecca. The thing that got Billy riled up about him is that the man clearly thought he had a chance with her having those stashed away. But he was the one who captured Rebecca's heart, he was the one she wanted and she made that very clear a few nights later. Months and months of sexual tension were released in a night of passion as they caved in to one another.

Steve's sleep was restless from the start. Tossing, turning, screaming, shouting it was a never-ending cycle for him. But every time that happened Claire would be by his side in a flash to hold him and calm him down. He only entrusted her to know all that happened to him throughout his ordeal at the hands of Umbrella, sure they had seen some moments from the Understock facility but it was just a snippet from a painful nine months. The first night he finally got to sleep his mind flooded with images so much he actually mutated. Every one except Billy, due to being injured from the facility escape, rushed to the young man's room to investigate the noise, instead they came across his T-Veronica form. Barry, Carlos and David all had their weapons drawn and were about to fire when Claire stepped in front to stop them. Their guns remained poised as Claire approached her fellow survivor without any fear. She talked to him, calmed him down before he began to slowly regress back to his human form. She could have easily been killed by him that night, but she trusted Steve to not harm her, just like when he saved her at the Antarctic facility. After that night she stayed with him, his sleep improved dramatically as he held her in his arms. It was also a comfort to them both that their romance had blossomed, not to the extent of Billy and Rebecca, instead going at a much steadier pace. Claire woke from a rare, pleasant slumber, wrapped in her love's arms she turned with half-open eyes to see Barry gently shaking her awake.  
Today was the day that both teams finish what started on the fateful night of the 23rd and the early morning of the 24th July 1998. The day where S.T.A.R.S Bravo team were sent to their death by Albert Wesker, apart Rebecca who found Billy after being split off from the rest of her team. ( A coincidence that just happened to have saved her life.)  
"Downstairs in an hour." Barry whispered, quietly leaving the room to go and wake Billy and Rebecca. She turned back to the man still soundly sleeping with her in his arms. She glided her hand through his hair, sweeping the dipping fringe from his eyes causing the younger man to moan in protest.  
"Steve.." She whispered "...we've got to get up now." She was greeted by a louder moan  
"10 more minutes..." He pulled her closer to the point where their foreheads touched. Claire smiled, bringing her hand to rest on the side of his face. He turned into the touch before kissing her palm.  
"Any other day would have been fine, but not today. When all this is done you can sleep as much as you want."  
"As long as you are with me..." He managed to mutter out  
"Always..." Their lips came into soft contact, sealing the agreement.

As soon as the hour was up everyone had gathered into the main room taking positions on the scruffy sofas and chairs.  
"This is it everyone. We don't know if these are actual Umbrella facilities, but as usual expect the unexpected and keep your guard up at all times. Claire, Rebecca, Billy and Steve all I can give you are these co ordinates.." He hands them over to Rebecca "You'll be heading to an old, supposedly abandoned power plant that closed down in 1993. That's all the information I can give you."  
"Which is better than what we got" Carlos butted in before Barry resumed  
"Once these two places have been checked and destroyed Umbrella will be no more. Leon, Jill and Chris, along with people they have met along the way, have taken out the facilities placed across Europe and Asia."

The four stepped out of the Jeep, looking to the distance. This was the day that Umbrella would fall completely, they blow this one off the map, Barry, Carlos and David will do the same at their end. They stood in silence as the sun rose over the horizon, lighting up their path with a warm, orange glow.  
"Let's get this show on the road.." Billy broke the silence and walked to the boot of the vehicle, opening the door to reveal their weaponry and essentials for the mission. Rebecca went to help him unload whilst Steve and Claire stood together in front of the bonnet.  
"You okay?" Billy turned to the medic, putting a concerned hand on her shoulder.  
"Yeah, just glad when this is over." She smiled back at her love before carrying on with the necessary weapon checks.  
Steve leant on the bonnet behind Claire as they watched the sun gradually rise, his arms wrapped around her waist and chin resting on her shoulder. Claire in turn placed her hands on his arms and lent into him, taking in the scenery surrounding them. The area was so tranquil, so calm. Steve closed his eyes as he listened to the birds' morning tune, holding her close as her scent relaxed him for the unknown trails awaiting them on the horizon. It didn't take long before Billy and Rebecca joined them.  
"Wakegreen nuclear power plant, how could something like that be surrounded by such beautiful scenery? Yet alone something being involved with Umbrella." The plant itself hadn't been used in a number of years, how long was anyone's guess. But the fact it wasn't demolished was a clear sign that there was possible Umbrella activity.  
"Come on, the quicker we get this over with the better." Billy handed everyone one a newly modified handgun that Barry, Carlos and David had brought back from the Rushmead facility, with Billy keeping his trusty magnum. Each of them had a secondary weapon, Rebecca took the grenade launcher, Claire shotgun, Billy sniper rifle and Steve the assault rifle. All were prepared, checked and loaded with ammo to spare. Rebecca and Billy shared the medical supplies. Radios on, combat knives holstered and torches checked.  
"Everyone ready?" Billy received a nod from the others before looking towards their target. "Let's go.."  
Quietly locking the Jeep they begin the two-mile walk to the facility. Understock was still fresh in all their minds, everything that had happened to each of them. So many near deaths for all of them. The only good thing that came out of it was that Claire and Rebecca found the people they held most dear in their hearts.. Months of searching lead Claire to Steve, which just so happened that Billy found Rebecca at the same place. Any time for the love struck romances were put on hold as soon as they left the Jeep, all needed to concentrate and be on their guard one false move or one mistake and they could be dead. When they arrived they sat in wait in cover, surveying the scene before Billy gave them the signal. Each sprinted to the large 3 story building next to the cooling towers. Planting their backs on the wall beside the side entrance. Rebecca, being the technical side of the group as well as the medic, looked at the electronic card system slowly removing the outer casing to reveal the wires and switches inside. She pulled out a small cloth from her pocket, rolling it out and picking out a couple of weirdly shaped instruments and began probing the scanner part of the console first.  
"Why don't you just cut the wires?" Billy looked over her shoulder  
"Because.." There was a click "..there is a high chance that would set off alarms indicating intruders, meaning people with guns or infected." There was another click "And we don't want that do we?" She glanced up to the man looming over her with a smug grin before returning to the job at hand.  
"Yet messing with the swipe sensor doesn't?" Billy didn't get a response, he only knew the basics of computing, not complicated security hacking, but continued to watch over Rebecca as the two Rockfort survivors kept a look out. It just seemed so...normal. Green grass, birds singing. No Zombies, Cerberus, dead or rotting corpses, nothing to show of a leaked infection. To all four of them, that's a first, maybe it'll be an easy mission after all.  
Five minutes later the sound of verification came from the door as Rebecca finished her work "And this is why we prefer to have a key card.."  
The door slowly opened, Billy taking point clicking his torch on, surveying the area swiftly followed by Claire, Rebecca and Steve. Steve lowered his gun "Looks like someone got here before us.." The entire floor looked like a bomb site, dividing walls had collapsed, shattered glass and paper were scattered all over the floor. From the looks of the remaining wall parts still attached to the floor there was a reception and a few small rooms at the back. They walked further in, glass crumbling and crunching under their weight with every step.  
Claire knelt, holding a page in her hand she scanned through its contents "March 1993." She looks to the others "Corresponds with the year this place supposedly closed down." "See if you can find anything down here" Billy turned and pointed the torch to the stairs "We'll check the upper floors."  
Claire watched as the torchlight of her colleagues faded up the staircase, she turned back to the papers in front of her and began to read scanning each page as quickly as she could to try and find out as much ,or if any, information as she could.  
The first floor was much worse than the ground. The floor was littered with so much debris they couldn't even place their feet properly on the floor. Steve proceeded with the utmost caution to the other side of the room scanning the floor as he went, checking bits of paper and folders but to find no sign of anything Umbrella related, just more information concerning the power plant.  
Rebecca began reading a newspaper article "Wakegreen Plant founder Francesca Newmann brings new hope to thousands of families." She looked to Billy who was standing but a few yards away from her. "All these articles are praising this place and the work it has done."  
"Hey Billy" Steve called out from the other side of the room "Can you give me a boost, I'll go check the second floor.." He looked up at the destroyed concrete stairs, there was a couple of steps left descending from some pretty fancy double doors. Steve had to literally stand on Billy's shoulders to reach the ledge. The older man grunted as he stood.  
"Aww Billy getting out of shape?" A very sad, yet sarcastic voice came from behind him as he pushed Steve up with his hands. He had such a great comeback to Rebecca's comment but it wasn't the time and defiantly wasn't the place.  
The younger man lept and grabbed hold of the ledge, pulling himself up the rest of the way. The door was beautifully engraved with an image of what had to be a forest, a golden name plague of Francesca Newmann screwed tightly just left of the handle. Steve grasped the handle in his hand, the coldness of the metal clashed with he heat of his palm as he began to turn, opening the heavy wooden slab as it cried out. He slowly entered, weapon raised. What he didn't expect was the room to be intact, framed certificates and pictures lining the walls, trophies on the window ledge and a three meter bookcase filled to the brim of folders and documentation. In the center was a carved desk, no particular design to it, but was clearly the most expensive item in the room, beating the door hands down. He took a seat on the green velvet cushioned chair, it was the most comfortable thing he'd ever sat on. Maybe he was in the wrong profession.  
_"T-Veronica virus carrier, yeah, great profession Steve makes everyone want to hire you..'_ He dispersed that thought and began to search through the drawers. A sudden loud rumble filled the building, all four stopped and began scanning their floor with their torches.  
_"Everyone alright?"_ Claire's concerned voice called in his ear  
_"Yeah fine, that sounded like it was coming from your floor Claire."_ Billy spoke over the radio  
_"I thought so too, but there's nothing here and nothings fallen."_  
_"We'll finish here and come meet with you we got nothing on this floor. Steve you found anything?"_  
"Fancy desk, pictures, certificates..." He walked over to the pictures and began to scan them trying to see if he recognised anyone, a sudden creak sounded as he walked, he thought nothing of it at first. '_Hang on, the floor is made of concrete...concrete doesn't creak..'_ He bent down and started to rip the carpet from the corner to where the creak formed, noticing an abnormality before an even louder noise bellowed through the building.  
_"Claire, that was defiantly coming from your floor.. "_ Rebecca's voice came through on the radio but was met with silence _"Claire, come in."  
_Steve immediately stopped what he was doing and listened. Claire hadn't replied.  
"Claire please respond.." Rebecca looked to Billy as he waited for the reply. All three were greeted by silence.  
Steve couldn't take the sudden quietness any more. Leaping from his seat he ran back to the first floor, Billy catching him as he dropped from the crumbled steps.. All were deeply concerned for the well-being of their friend as they rushed back down the steps to the ground floor  
"Claire?" Steve's voice echoed with fear and worry throughout the room, his torchlight moved quickly in an attempt to spot the woman. "Claire!" He called out again. No matter how much he called out there was no reply and no response when they called her on the radio.  
Claire Redfield had suddenly disappeared..

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**So the people who were asking me to do a sequel, I do apologise it's taken like 4 months to appear. I do update story progress on my profile so there have been explanations as to why it's taken me so long. If you like it please follow the story and a review if you want, just seeing the view count makes me happy enough.**

**~gt**


	2. The search continues

A sudden, unbearable stench of rot and decay overwhelmed their senses, each of them had to hold back the urge to vomit.  
"Claire?" One last call out echoed throughout the room before the three remaining split up to comb the area for any clues as to what happened or caused their friend's sudden disappearance. The further into the room they went, the worse the smell got. Rebecca could hear the suppressed noises escaping one of the two men's mouths in an attempt to stop the need to throw up. She could feel the bile climbing up her throat. The smell itself was something none of them experienced before, it was so much worse than Arklay, Spencer and Raccoon put together.  
A muffled groan stopped the three of them in their tracks "Did you guys hear that?"  
Steve turned his torch to the others "I heard something.."  
Another groan, louder than the previous snapped them to point their beams of light in a certain direction, towards a pile of rubble on Billy's side, they knew it was there when they arrived so there was no chance Claire couldn't be under it, the moan didn't even sound remotely like her anyway. The room reverted back to silence as Steve joined Rebecca slowly proceeding towards the area, watching their every step as they went.  
Billy carefully scanned the mountain of concrete, letting the light bounce of every crevice and crack. It looked like a normal piece of crumbling rubble, there was no way the noise had come from it. He walked around the debris to carry on searching. It was his torchlight was focused on some paper scattered on the floor only ten feet away that he didn't notice what was right beside him until his bodyweight suddenly shifted to his left side.  
"Shit!" He managed to keep his balance and stumbled several steps back before shining his light on the area for an explanation as to what just happened. What greeted him was a hole, only about 2 foot wide but the floor surrounding the crater was caving in, curling into the darkness of whatever lurked below.  
The others approached slowly and cautiously, following Billy's beam of light to a hole in the floor to come face to face with the origin of the putrid smell that had filled the air.  
"Looks like it just collapsed and took Claire with it.."  
Rebecca tried to get a closer look before he pulled her back not wanting to risk the floor from collapsing any further.  
"Claire?" Steve called out down the hole to receive nothing back but his own echo. He tried to shine his torch down but the fear of more flooring to collapse was too great. He was worried for the safety of his fellow Rockfort survivor, friend and love. The adrenaline pumped through him, urging him to do what his heart was telling him.  
"I'm gonna jump down.."  
Billy grabbed the younger man's arm "Don't be so reckless, you don't know how far down it is, have no idea what is down there and what if Claire is unconscious?...or dead?" It was something he didn't want to think about, but he had to put it into perspective, they were the only reasons why she wasn't answering her radio. "I'm not risking losing contact with another member."  
"What if her radio had just fallen off?"  
"She would have called out to us by now."  
"Then she was in danger and ran?" Panic was lurking into Steve's words  
"We would have heard gunshots. Steve she's a grown woman."  
"What if it was Rebecca that fell!?" The Veronica carrier's voice was rising by the second  
"Yes, I'd probably be in the same situation you are but, but it would be you and Claire making me see reason - To find a way down there and find her as fast as we can. Now are we just going to stand here arguing or are we going to find a route down to get her? The longer we wait the more chance Claire could get attacked in an unconscious state and then you'll have to come across her as a walking corpse. Now did any of us find some sort of way down?"  
The thought of him facing Claire as an infected was one of the worst images that he could ever imagine "I found something on my floor, but I hadn't pulled the carpet back quick enough before all this happened. All the floor was concrete and then it suddenly creaked like floorboards. I don't know if it's a way down or a hidden compartment, but it's worth a look..."  
"It's the best lead we have, let's move."  
Rebecca placed her hand on Steve's arm "She's going to be alright..we'll find her." He nodded as he led the run back to the destroyed second floor staircase.

"Ladies first..." With him being the taller of the two men Billy got in place and lifted Rebecca up to the ledge, safely grabbing it and pulling herself up. Billy and Steve looked at each other knowing the one that is left down here would have the hardest time getting up.  
Steve knelt "I'm stronger then I look you know" Billy stepped on his back, but he wasn't prepared for the sheer strength of the man underneath him as he was pushed upwards, grabbing the ledge as soon as he could reach. Time was wasting as he and Rebecca needed to help the younger man reach their floor. He looked around the well-kept room immediately heading for the desk in the center, emptying the contents of the drawers the two Arklay survivors pushed it out the door and over the edge. Steve was surprised that it didn't brake as he slowly dragged it into position. On the underside was an Umbrella logo and a plaque, he read it through his radio "Francesca Newmann, director of the Newmann facility, Umbrella...well it's confirmed, we have the right place."  
Billy with held a sarcastic comment concerning the smell, noises and the fact that the office he was currently standing in was way too expensive looking for an abandoned nuclear plant. Steve was already on edge with Claire missing, he didn't want to push him over it. Steve positioned the desk at an acute angle against the wall, taking a run up he leapt onto the dark, wooden surface and up the wall, using the power that was in his legs to catapult himself onto the ledge, pulling himself up the rest of the way to join the others.  
Rebecca was quickly examining the contents from the desk whilst the two men rushed to the other side to continue where Steve had left the carpet partially crumpled on the floor. She quickly scanned over pages, stopping when a picture fell out of a folder, she picked it up, so many faces she knew...for the wrong reasons. It was like an Umbrella group photo. Marcus, Spencer, all three Ashfords, Wesker, Chief Irons, Birkin, Regan and Williams but three faces she couldn't recognise, a woman and two men. The carpet had been pulled back as far as it needed, Steve opened the hatch to the reveal a ladder...a very long ladder, seemingly never-ending that even their torchlight could not reach the bottom. There wasn't as much of a stench as before, but it was still present.  
"Let's get going" Billy turned to Rebecca, who was still concentrating on the picture. "Becs?" his voice snapped her out of the trance as she turned to him "What you got?"  
She walked over to the two men and showed them the photograph.. "It's these three.." She pointed to the people on the right side of the picture. As soon as he saw it his attentions turned immediately to the smug grin plastering Regan's face. It was easy to tell this picture was a good number of years old as the dead man didn't have any of his grey hair or wrinkles. The Ashford twins still looked pretty young. The three unknowns looked rather young themselves, putting them in their early twenties. The woman had short, straight brown hair and frameless glasses. The man standing just to the side looked awfully proud, his red hair slicked back like Wesker's. The final man was harder to describe as the face had faded, all they could see was the outline of his head, but his build and posture were that of a confident, strong and able man.  
"Guys, come on we need to find Claire!" Steve's patience was wearing thin, not to mention the thought of a creepy - unknown until a couple of months ago - facility was sending shivers down his spine. He led the way down swiftly followed by Rebecca, who played the photograph in her pocket, and finally Billy. What would usually of taken seconds took minutes as they descended.  
The thought kept passing through Billy's mind _'No one can survive a fall this far..'_ But even he refused to believe that Claire had perished, they needed concrete proof and since it seemed like they were descending a ladder down to the center of the earth it may be some time.

Steve's torchlight finally bounced back off a concrete floor. His feet contacted the uneven surface, swinging his torch round he found them in a rather claustrophobic area, with only enough room for the three of them. Gliding torchlight over the wall he came to some white markings.  
"Basement 3. We've just climbed down the equivalent of 5 floors?". Just as the others feet touched the ground he slowly opened the door to his left, assault rifle primed and ready to shoot anything that got in the way of finding his love. Light brightly filtered into their eyes as they stepped through the rusted slab of metal. Shielding from the sudden blindness Steve quickly scanned the corridor they were now in. The three of them were expecting disaster, infected, blood and that oh too familiar stench of blood and rotten flesh, instead they walked into a perfectly clean corridor, pristine white tiles, clear white walls and the smell of cleaning products cleared away the stench of the ground floor that lingered in their sinuses. They glanced to each other knowing there is a chance that, unlike the other facilities, the scientists may still alive, but the silence was alarming.  
"If this place is clean, shouldn't there be people with weapons aiming at us for trespassing?" The others look just as confused about the situation as he was.  
"If anyone was still alive they would have done something to us when we entered that office or shot us when we were at their mercy on the ladder."  
Billy whispered in the silence "If this is B3 then we have at least two floors to search. We separate and look for the way to the upper floors another ladder, elevator, stairs.. whatever we can find. Claire is our top priority. Only search rooms if you feel the need to. We don't know what we are dealing with so high alert, move quickly but quietly." The others nodded and they proceeded further into the glistening corridor. Billy broke off and began up a corridor that split off to their right as Steve and Rebecca continued. The remaining two reached a point where it split off in three ways. Since Billy had already begun to explore the right side of the floor Steve ducked to the left and Rebecca resumed forward. All had their guns poised and ready for any sudden surprises.

Rebecca had made it to the end of her search, with the corridor splitting left and right she knew this would be where they would all meet up. She took a few steps to the right to see a small alcove between two rooms. At the end was a metal grate, walking up to it she noticed a couple of screws were missing. Placing her small fingers between the strips of metal it took a couple of attempts before she pulled it from the wall screws and all.  
_"Stairs are a no go.."_ Steve's frustrated voice came through on the radio.  
She took a step back, priming her weapon on the off-chance that something may pay her a visit from the vent...well it happened in Understock.  
"I might have found something." She approached cautiously and shone the torch up the metal sheeting "Looks like an air vent" As she shone the torch down a very pungent smell filled her nostrils almost making her gag. She encountered ghastly smells before but this one topped it off and it had already happened multiple times."Looks like it goes up to the next floor, but there's a hell of a drop down." Holstering her gun she climbed in, bracing one leg in front of her whilst the other behind to keep her from falling.  
_"Becs where abouts are you?"_  
She inhaled through her mouth but the taste lingered each time she swallowed "Furthest point, it's a small side corridor. I'm going up."  
_"Wait, we're coming."_  
"Claire can't wait can she? Don't worry I'll be careful ." She was met with radio silence as she began to quickly ascend up the tunnel, it was a clear sign that both men knew she was right, If Claire was in trouble she was the best person to help her. Several times a foot or hand slipped on the metal surface before reaching a grate. With her back and hands gripping the metal behind her she kicked the grate off with ease, sending it clattering to the tiles below. There she remained for a few moments looking out to what had to be basement level 2. There was some sort of sound, she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was but it came from wherever the duct ended however many floors below. Slowly she climbed out and onto floor level, the lights were dim, but enough to still see clearly without the need of a flash light. Slowly with gun poised she began the small walk to the end of the alcove. Something dripped in the distance, she gripped her gun only to feel something fall onto her bare forearm before slowly running off. It was a dark substance, the same as what she was walking through on the floor. Another drop fell, and then she realised, blood. The medic looked up to see a hole from the floor above, body parts had attempted to fall through blocking all but the liquid still draining from limbs. She looked back ahead of her to see six people, two behind her blocking off the corridor to the north and four in the more open area on her right. All wearing bloodstained lab coats, all pale ripped flesh, bloodied saliva dripping from their mouths. It was a sight she grew to know oh so well in such a small space of time... these people were infected, just like the Arklay labs and Spencer Estate, but how did they suddenly appear? There was no sound, no indication. No matter what kind of infected creature they always made a sound. You could always hear the scampering of claws, the moans, hisses, cries, howls, groans and the shuffling of feet, yet these had none. She could see the stairs to basement one in the distance, but could she risk running past them? It was clear these were infected, but they produced no sound..what changed? Did they mutate with it like the Veronica U-Virus? She didn't exactly want to find out without help.  
With no other choice Rebecca slowly make her way to the air duct, not turning her back on creatures. Their eyes watched her, frozen to their seemingly designated spot. Could she kill them before they reached her? Okay so kill wasn't exactly the word to an already dead victim. She trained her gun onto the closest infected aiming right to its head before something caught her eye. Her hesitation gave them their chance to strike. With a sudden shrill they quickly moved, walking, to their prey snarling the cries of hunger, a new meal came to them and it was time to feast.  
"Billy!" She shouted through her ear piece before jumping back into the vent, she was going too fast, trying to slow herself was an impossible task as the liquid on the metal sheets were only making her drop faster. She could see the light pouring through the hole leading back to B3, something that had turned into a sanctuary after a matter of seconds. A noise of hunger echoed through, she briefly looked up to see some of the infected had fallen in after her. Even if the medic was able to stop, the sheer weight of them would easily push her all the way down. B3 got closer and closer, she had to risk it and turned her body slightly to grab onto the opening.  
Her hands latched on, stopping instantly she had to quickly pull herself up as the falling infected weren't that far behind her. It was short-lived as she lost her grip due to the substance that coated her hands, arms and shoes. She was going to fall all the way down to the bottom with what must have been five starving infected right behind her..

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**B3 isn't detailed much cause we are, of course, coming back to it a bit later ;)**  
**Thank you to those who are following ( some names I even recognise from the previous story )**  
**Sorry this chapter is later than what I intended - been hectic over here :(**

**Hotaru - I hope I won't disappoint! ( awesome to hear from you again! )**


	3. Kami

She suddenly stopped, suspended in the air for what was a millisecond before being hauled up fast, escaping the dark, claustrophobic tunnel into the light of the third basement. She was safe and wrapped in a sudden warmth. It took a moment for the events to catch up to her, before actually opening her eyes to see Billy's arms wrapped tightly around her. Him and Steve caught and dragged her from the confined space just in time before a blur of white and the the sound of groaning zoomed past the opening. She took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm her heavy beating heart as the adrenaline pumped through her system. She had been so close to becoming an infected's meal or falling to her death...then becoming an infected's meal.

"You okay?" The voice of one man brought her back to reality,

"I am now..." She deeply inhaled more air, it was so clean and refreshing compared to the duct and second floor. "There's infected up there.."

The news didn't exactly come as a surprise to the two men. Steve went back to the opening and shone his flash-light down the shaft in an attempt to see what fell after her. The smell that came back up the duct was nauseating to say the least. A mix of blood, something rotten and faeces? He dread to think about what would have awaited Rebecca at the bottom if they hadn't caught her. They were lucky enough to have just seen her grab onto the ledge before slipping off. He leant back into the much more inviting air on their floor before leaning against the wall and listening to the young medics analysis of said infected.

"..there were six of them. I was examining a hole in the ceiling and when I looked back there they were surrounding me. No groans, no shuffling..nothing to indicate they were near by."

"Didn't you shoot them?"

"I was about to, but there was already a wound on their forehead... looked like a bullet wound."

It took Steve a couple of seconds to digest the information before reason quickly caught up to him. "You telling us that they had already been shot?"

The older medic nodded" Before or after transformation I can't say."

"Then how can they still be moving? We've known since the beginning that a bullet through the brain was the best way to deal with them."

"Meaning that shooting them in the head may not work any more.." Billy suddenly joined in.

There was silence for a few seconds whilst the three of them tried to work some sort of plan. Decapitation was the only other known method, but unlike Jill and Chris none of them had a lighter or kerosene to dispose of bodies and there was no way these ones were the 'Crimson heads' like Jill explained to her before they parted ways.

"Well.." Billy broke the silence "..no point staying here, let's head up and keep searching for Claire. Then find ourselves a test subject."

Steve took the lead back into the foul-smelling duct, slowly climbing up the vertical sheets, Rebecca swiftly followed him with Billy at the back. The Veronica carrier arrived at the empty gap where Rebecca had previously kicked the grate off. Keeping his feet firmly against either side of the metal vent he reached into his belt and pulled free his torch, shining it up into the darkness above his head. The vertical sheets of metal suddenly bent to what must have been a seventy degree angle. The grey metal, stained with dried blood indicating the chute hadn't been used in a while, well from that height at least, but it was enough of a clue to know that the chute went to B1. It was an opportunity for them to skip B2 for now until they could secure the safety of their colleague.

"Stay here, I'll go check it out." He quietly called down to the others, yet his voice still echoed loudly, before proceeding up. As soon as he passed B2 it was easier to climb up as the feel of blood disappeared and replaced with cold metal. Reaching the angled slope was able to run up like a child on a slide, reaching the end and sat on the smallest of ledges next to the grate..or what was supposed to be a grate. It wasn't like a sheet of metal with slits, it was a solid block of metal. He curled his fingertips around an exposed corner and tried to pull, even with his new-found strength after adapting to the T-Veronica Virus the panel would not move. He tried pushing and kicking it, hoping that it would open that way but it didn't even creak. He annoyingly admitted defeat and carefully began the descent back down the shaft to join his team mates guarding on either side of the chute on B2. Grabbing his handgun he didn't have to look at the others to know they wanted his report on his findings. His eyes were concentrating on the area before him.

"No go, it's completely sealed."

Billy sighed in annoyance. With what Rebecca had told them the infected they were facing were smart in a way..if the dead could be smart. It made him worry about Claire's safety and well-being more.

"Okay Becs.." He spoke in a hushed tone "..where do we need to go."

"I only got to the end of this corridor before that limb infested hole caught my attention and I was ambushed, but to the right it opens out, the stairs are there."

Billy could already see the very hole she was talking about, she really didn't get far at all. But this time there were three of them, they were not going to get jumped or cornered. He led the way, treading carefully and quietly, none of them knew how many fell in the vent after Rebecca. Reaching the end of the small corridor Billy immediately jerked to the left, pointing his gun down the corridor as he saw someone. He directed the others to continue on, he didn't move and didn't speak. The others turned to the right the open area was clear Steve began to calmly walk to the stairs. As much as the youngest member of the group wanted to run and get to Claire as quickly as possible he wasn't going to make any mistakes. The problems he caused for Claire at Rockfort and Antarctica still haunted him. There was always the thought that crossed his mind if he hadn't decided to longingly gaze to the back of Claire's head when he was operating the crane and destroyed the gas pipe that they could have made it to the Australian base without incident, free and uninfected. He had to be professional even if his heart disagreed with him. He felt a hand grasp his wrist and suddenly turned to see Rebecca with a finger to her lips before pointing over to Billy who was shuffling ever so slowly backwards from whatever was down that corridor. Curiosity got the better of the Veronica carrier and he slowly made his way to the older man, aiming his handgun down the very same corridor. At the end of another relatively small corridor just outside of a door was an infected. Back turned to the duo and swaying like it was a drunk on a Friday night without the staggering and vomiting. It seemed to have not realised their presence and Billy wanted to keep it that way. With one finger ready on the trigger he used his free hand to usher Steve back to the door. To both men it seemed like hours, Rebecca had kept her weapon trained to another corridor leading away from them at 2 o'clock from her position on top of a three stair set. As soon as they all re grouped she slowly turned the handle. The door opened with a creak, she paused looking to the others, their weapons still trained at the very same corridor. The door creaked some more until it was wide enough for them to slip through. Rebecca walked in, weapon drawn and senses on high alert...maybe too high as a sudden rush of rot and damp indulged her senses. The floor was much smaller than what she could tell B2 was. It was very open, five rooms spread out over a short distance from what she could see. It was clear, that's all that mattered at the moment as she turned back to tap Steve on the shoulder as a signal that it was safe to come through, he in turn tapped Billy. Never had the former marine been so relieved to shut a door behind him. Sure they all have encountered infected throughout this whole Umbrella process, slow shuffling zombies that you can hear a mile off, even the runners from Understock. But the fact that these infected already had a bullet wound on the forehead and were not down for the count was a cause for concern, yet alone what virus they could be carrying. To Billy the way it just stood there and swayed was very reminiscent of the T-Virus infected from Arklay, Spencer and Raccoon, yet when Rebecca told how they moved quietly and seemed organised he discarded that thought. It was still a possibility that they were and someone has messed it up like they did with T-Veronica, but they all knew the answers will come one way or another...hopefully easily and soon. Steve's senses were being attacked constantly as he surveyed the new level. Somewhere beyond the crimson red floor, through the rotten stench filled corridors strewn with body parts Claire Redfield was in need of her knight in shining armour once more. As much as he wanted to head straight to the area Claire would have supposedly fallen through there was no guarantee she would still be there, with her radio out or unconscious he had to remain professional, he didn't want to suddenly run into her and pull the trigger thinking that it was an infected.

Entering the biggest room on the right side of the entrance they immediately got to work. Steve was scouting the area for any clues if Claire had or was in the room. Rebecca was checking the contents of files that were neatly organised in alphabetical order, gently gliding her finger over the raised print on each sleeve before one folder in particular caught her attention. She curiously took the file and began to read the contents out loud.

"Disposal should be initiated every six hours, using specimens provided in the Spencer, Marcus and Ashford rooms. The Kami room is strictly out-of-bounds due to uncertain complications concerning specimens of special quality. Code for the chute is the date the nuclear plant closed, failure to remember this number holds grounds for punishment." She skipped some paragraphs before continuing "Failure to meet the corresponding disposal times holds ground for dismissal."  
Steve backtracked to the door and began to open it "Well let's find out what they were trying to dispose of."

"Steve wait" The man in question turned round to see Billy stand "Well come on then!" The older man sighed and turned to the medic still searching through the pages.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine..just make sure you properly close the door behind you, I don't want no more silent surprises.."

Both men quickly leave the room and begin their investigation. Both walking at a fast pace to the rooms on the right hand side. Billy taking the first door they came to whilst Steve cautiously went on to the room further up. His stomach knotted a little when he saw 'Kami' emblazoned on the woodwork, great first door and it had to be the creepy one with the 'special specimens'. He had no time to be nervous, Claire was here, lost and alone and he needed to find her. He grabbed the handle, locked of course but it was so easy kicking it open it was...absurd. Umbrella, a multi million dollar company, could buy the best equipment anywhere, yet for this room the lock was as basic and as a simple desk drawer that even he could pick it if he was in no hurry. The door splintered from where the lock once connected to the frame. He raised his gun waiting for any late surge of infected as he slowly kicked it open, a sterile smell replaced the rotting flesh from before.  
Inch by inch he slowly moved into the room..

Billy turned the handle to the 'Spencer' room. Why was it that every facility he went to always had a constant reminder of the founders? He sighed as he opened the door, magnum drawn. A wall of nausea suddenly came at him as the smell from the room attacked the back of his throat. In vain he tried to shield his mouth and nose from the foul stench as he walked further in. What greeted him was bodies... a mass collection of dead humans, which lined the walls on hooks or just thrown regardless to the floor. The floor itself was nowhere to be seen apart from the smear of blood where the door opened, the original colour, he couldn't even take a guess. The stench was too much for the Arklay survivor as he quickly shut the door and began to dry heave. He may have lived through the Arklay Mansion and it's Labs along with the Understock prison, mansion and facility, but he had never seen anything like that before in his life. The harrowing picture of what were once people, some who were still wearing their lab coats now drenched with the crimson liquid of the body thrown on top of them. He didn't want to go in there and investigate, what was there to investigate? Claire was defiantly not in there, her dark clothes were too distinctive compared to the bodies with their plain white...or now pink and red attire. He was relieved when Steve's voice came through the radio.

"Billy, I need your help..."

There was slight distress in his voice, worry slightly, but calm. It was clear he had not found their target or he'd be either beside himself with joy for desperate pleas as he yells to his radio. As much as the older man wanted to take a big intake of air the smell on this floor wasn't exactly clean, turning his back to the room he was heaving over he turned and headed to Steve's, anywhere had to be better than the Spencer room.

Steve stayed exactly where he was, the barrel of his handgun hadn't left its target as soon as he stepped through the threshold. All he could do was stare at what was before him. A mid aged woman, sitting upright against a broken isolation capsule. He couldn't tell if she was gasping for breath or trying to say something but it was clear that she was the one who was placed in that glass structure, the wires were still connected from the lifeless machinery to patient. Her wet, blonde hair stuck to the pale, gaunt face, big brown eyes wide open possibly by the shock of being freed from her confinement, or by the distress she must have gone through at the hands of the scum who did this to her in the first place. As much as Steve wanted to help her there was only one problem. He turned his head slightly when Billy walked through the door, his own weapon pointing to the woman. Her neck was clearly broken, the way her head flopped down her front was a good enough indication. Her head was twitching in such away the skull just bobbed around with every spasm.

"What do we do?" Steve questioned the older man, his eyes still fixated on the broken human in front of him.

"If she is infected she won't be able to move even if she does turn...but I guess the most humane thing to do is put her out of her misery. Goodness knows how long the poor woman had been in there."

Steve nodded, no one deserved to be left in a state like that in such an inhumane way. Billy pulled the trigger and a shot fired out, blowing apart a good chunk of the skull back into the capsule. All twitching and noises ceased immediately as the woman sat there completely lifeless.

"We'd best check the other two rooms." Billy walked back out and as much as he didn't want to see and smell what was behind door number three he had to check to make sure their comrade wasn't trapped, unconscious or dead.

Steve crouched down to the remains on the floor feeling sorrow for the woman. He knew what it felt like to be a test subject, the pain and torture he had to go through everyday may have been more or less than what she ever went through, but no one deserved to be treated like an animal. Minutes must have passed since Billy left to check out the next room, it was time for him to move on saying a silent farewell to the now deceased before he turned. Closing the door behind him he inhaled deeply, even with the rancid smell that filtered into the hallway, before proceeding to the room on the opposite side of the floor. He stared at the handle before looking to the name placed on the door, he felt sick to his stomach, 'Ashford'. A name that he was constantly associated with.

"Nothing in here." Billy's voice came over the radio meant that this was the only room Claire could be in.

He quickly turned the handle pushing the door open just in time to see half the floor collapse onto the level below. He couldn't brave walking into the room in fear the rest would collapse was Claire in this room or had been? He quickly looked to the ceiling to see it had fallen in, his heart stopped. His mind didn't give him time to be rational, he rushed out, nearly crashing into Billy along the way. The ex-marine's calls falling of deaf ears as he raced to the stairs that lead back down to basement 2.

Rebecca scanned through as much paperwork as she could before hearing Billy's burst through the radio

"Steve Stop!" Before the man in question burst into the room, her reaction made her to pick up and aim her gun towards the offender, only to relax when she saw who it was.

"Becs we got to go, Steve's run off!"

The medic didn't question him, now was not the time for hesitation as she grabbed her backpack, slinging it over shoulders, as the two began to run after Steve. As soon as they opened the door back to basement two they walked quickly but heavily cautious, there was at least one infected roaming this floor that could appear any time and with the sudden noise of a floor collapsing and smell that had generated from it would attract any thing's attention in no time. Billy took lead whilst Rebecca watched the back, walking steadily before the corridor split left and right. Quickly glancing right to see if the coast was clear Billy looked down the corridor were the floor would have collapsed to and where the infected was once standing only half an hour before. He saw Steve, his gun shaking in his hand as he aimed it towards whatever was around the corner...


	4. Test Subject

Steve ran as fast as his legs would carry him. He needed to get to her now, get her away from the remaining infected that roamed B2. There was no other place she could be and now because they didn't search fast enough she was in even more danger. He couldn't hear Billy yelling at him through the radio as he burst through the door back to the floor below, nothing was going to stop him reaching her now. Leaping down the stairs he ran down the previously occupied corridor to the area scattered with body parts and broken ceiling tiles. Just as he was about to burst through the closed door a click to his left immediatly made him raise his weapon at lightning speed, finger ready on the trigger. His adrenaline was pumping profusely around his body so much that his hand was shaking.  
Never had he been so happy to hesitate pulling the trigger as the barrel of the gun he was looking down belonged to the one person he needed to see. Slouched against the wall, bloodied and exhausted, shaken, but safe. He immediatly dropped to his need and wrapped his arms around her.

"Claire.."

"Come on, let's get her to a safe place, there's still infected here." Rebecca's voice snapped him out of his delighted trance.

He quickly looked behind to see her and Billy safe guarding the corridors. He carefully placed an arm under the legs and the other to support her back as he hoisted her up in his arms, allowing her head to rest against his shoulder before the medic managed to pry open the closest door away from the collapsed site. Billy carefully scanned the ground as Rebecca did the ceiling. Her eyes slowly glided over each smooth tile for any clues to suggest a collapse or leak. She was grateful when she found none, each square tile was still pristine white as the day they were brought from some unknowing manufacturer. The barrel of Billy's magnum traced the room, they were lucky, the place was spotless. It looked like a staff room, a couple of indigo couches, which looked like they had melted into the carpet of the same colour, in the corner with a small coffee table scattered with magazines and empty cups. On the other side was a worktop, neatly lined with containers on a stainless dark granite surface. The two of them nodded to each other before quickly ushering Steve in.  
Laying the woman gently on one of the sofas, he quickly moved out of the way to allow her to have a complete check over. Getting the chance to properly look at her. The once lightly tanned skin wasn't visible, hidden beneath dried crimson. It was hard to tell if it, if any, was hers or the bodies she most likely fell on if the room was anything like the other he searched. She was still a little shocked, easily understandable falling through a hole goodness knows how deep, getting knocked out somewhere along the way from the ground floor to the first basement and waking up in a room full of dead bodies. It would be enough to freak anyone out that's for sure, especially if you woke up to one staring into your eyes.  
Billy was examining the contents in the cupboards and containers. A few snacks remained, but were a good three months out of date. The containers contained the usual coffee and tea bags. Some were heavily scented, Billy was one to never understand the wonders of flavoured tea, he never tried it and the smells of orange, lavender and something that smelt like...cucumber? Wafting up his nostrils he'd never will. Sure the smell was a lot better the the stench of rotten carcasses, but not something he'd want to stick around. He turned and leaned on the counter along with Steve to see Rebecca carefully and slowly wipe away the blood staining the young Redfield's face.

"You do know how reckless you just were right?"

"I did it to save Claire, there are infected on this corridor and I wanted to get to her first before they did. If she was unconscious.."

"What if they got to you first? What if it was you that became an infected's dinner? You may carry the T-Veronica virus, but who knows what this one may do to you. You may mutate more and have no human emotion..you could kill us all."

Steve's eyes never left Claire. "You're afraid of me?"

"I'm looking out for you Steve, there's a difference, your at risk as well. If it does happen you'll end up killing her."

He stood in silence, his eyes remained on the very woman they were talking about. He may have been able to save her once when he did mutate, it still haunted him that he very nearly did kill her.

Billy looked back to Rebecca, "I couldn't tell you how many times I have nearly lost her both in the Arklay mountains, Understock and goodness knows what in between. It is incredibly hard to keep your feelings inside especially if it is a loved one. Back in Understock when she got kidnapped Claire was the one that stopped me chasing after her blindly. So I know exactly how you felt those moments ago."

He gently tapped the younger man on the shoulder "Come on, we are being in the way just standing here, we need to go find out what we are dealing with."

Billy opened the door cautiously, Steve quickly stepped out looking left whilst Billy looked right, the coast was clear. Yet the stench from the collapsed floor above turned out to be much worse when rotting bodies move.

"How long have they been up there?" Steve questioned with a face of pure disgust.  
The other man shook his head, not wanting to speak in fear the taste would attack his mouth. He didn't want to breathe either, especially when it hit the back of his throat making him dry heave several times before the two men finally started moving to find the lone infected that seemed to be roaming the floor.  
They began at the most obvious spot - The room under where Claire collapsed. Steve quickly turned the handle and rammed the door open with his shoulder. The sound of bones breaking greeted the two men as the door came to a stop. A new wave of nausea coated them as they shut the door as quickly as they opened it. Steve dashed to the closest wall and threw up what little breakfast he was supposed to be digesting, it made him better in a way. It was much better being able to taste his own vomit then heavily rotten flesh, he'd take that any day.

"If that thing happened to go in there he's welcome to stay there.." Referring to the roaming infected.

Billy agreed as they quickly moved on. He couldn't remember if Claire had left the door slightly ajar as she escaped from the decaying room or not. At this moment in time he didn't care, they were going to search every room anyway..the thing would make an appearance eventually.  
The floor itself was slightly bigger than the one above. Steve worked out that the room they left Claire and Rebecca in was directly under from the Kami room where they ended the life of that poor woman. At least they were safe in there.  
They reached the next door down, only a few feet away from the collapsed roof, scanning the ceiling above them they saw the inevitable marks that showed that this section was going to collapse rather soon also. Steve kept his eyes darting from front to back, ready to shoot at any unwelcome surprises as Billy tried the handle, locked. Saving his ammo as best he could he began kicking the wooden door. It easily broke, splintering the frame from where the lock sat and the door flung open. They didn't step in as limbs and organs were already beginning to scatter along the blood soaked floor, looking up to the ceiling they were greeted by a body hanging upside down. It was a woman, her eyes were open, the look on the half eaten face was of pure terror, frozen in time until she wasted away along with her colleagues. Steve knew Umbrella was ruthless but even he questioned himself as to why Umbrella would kill all their staff, it was clear the whole facade was intentional, remembering the bodies stocked on the floor above, but what was the purpose? What was more important than their top scientists? Why would they waste highly intelligent people for the sake of a chemical?  
Billy moved them on, knowing that would be another image that would haunt in his dreams, yet he'd rather prefer that then Rebecca hanging from the ceiling in Understock. Passing the small corridor leading from the 'waste' chute they arrived back at the stairs, but went through the door to their right.

"Bingo, one test subject" Billy quietly whispered into his radio microphone.

Both men braced themselves in the event of the infected scientist realising that fresh food had just walked through the door. Yet it seemed to be oblivious as it was still chomping its way through some poor fellow's neck.

Rebecca's voice came through on the radio _"Okay, shoot it once in the head."_

Steve did as she said and fired off a round straight into the creatures temple, causing it to immediatly crash on the bloodied mess it was previously eating.  
Billy kept his magnum raised, knowing that one shot from his gun would most likely blow the things head off, but none of the others had this model gun so this was so much more helpful to them. He watched as the younger man took a few steps closer to inspect the damage his bullet caused.

"Careful Steve."

"It's a clear shot, would down one of these permanently."

Five minutes had passed and the body remained down and lifeless

"Becs, are you sure it was bullet holes you saw?"

"I've shot enough infected to know a bullet hole when I see one."

Billy sighed and turned to Steve " We'd best get back."

Nodding in agreement they turned to the door when an almighty shrill pierced their ears. They barely turned round when the once shot infected lunged at Steve, a payback so it seemed, for the bullet now lodged deep in it's brain.


End file.
